At Zuora, we put our people first. This is more than just lip service, and we are always working to reevaluate our practices to enhance the experience of all of our employees, aka ZEOs. Which is why we are so excited to have just launched our industry-leading parental leave policy!

We want our ZEOs to have the flexibility and support to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. New parents, regardless of gender or location, are encouraged to take up to 6 months of fully paid parental leave within the first year of the arrival of their new family member. Our ZEOs are empowered to determine the leave schedule that works best for them and their family (i.e. return part-time, full-time, or return and go back out as needed.) We have also enhanced our parental support program to include resources such as birth preparation, newborn care, infant sleep, breastfeeding and even how to successfully transition back to work. Just another way we’re supporting our ZEOs to make shift happen both at work and in their homes.

Gina Yen, Principal Program Manager on our Leadership & Development team and new mother to adorable baby girl Noor, has already taken advantage of this extended leave and seen the benefits of the extra time with her daughter.

“With the gift of an additional three months, I was able to get Noor into a feeding and a bedtime routine. I started Noor at daycare part-time for a couple of days a week to help her adjust to being around other people.Zuora’s generous policy showed me that it values me as an employee–enough to give me the time I needed to adapt to the major changes in my personal life and my work-life so that I can return to work excited to get back into doing what I love at Zuora.”

Brian Barber-Laurin, Network Engineer at Zuora and proud papa to the beautiful Alanna, explained how his extra time at home helped he and his wife in the months following the arrival of their baby girl.

“My wife was able to sleep through the night since I was tending to the baby as much as possible — and she really appreciated the well-deserved rest. I also got a whole new appreciation for how hard it is to take care of a baby. I also just loved all the time I got to spend with my little baby girl.”

Likewise, Felix Zhang, a Software Engineer based in our Beijing office, explained how lucky he felt to take advantage of this extended leave to support his wife and care for his new daughter, Shawna.

“Fathers in Beijing have only 15 days of paternity leave by law. That means new mothers face most of the challenges and burdens of childcare. The significance of the new parental leave policy is that I can better fulfill my duties as a husband and a father.”

We are confident that our focus on helping parents balance work and family, including our expanded parental leave, will further enhance the growing Zuora family and greatly benefit all the ZEOs that make this the unique and inclusive workplace we love.

When beginning her leave, Gina Yen encountered surprise about the terms of Zuora’s new policy:

“When my friends or parents in my parents’ support group hear about our new policy, they take note. ‘What company do you work for?’ they ask. ‘Does it really apply to both men and women? To children who are adopted?’ The boldness and the inclusive nature of the policy impresses them, just as it has impressed me.”

When you become a ZEO, you become a part of the extended Zuora family. With this new parental leave policy, we’re putting our practices behind our belief in the value of family — in and out of the office.